Japan
Ambassador Koichi Haraguchi
Japan’s southern territories are located less than 200 miles to the east of Korea, and it has maintained an active diplomatic role on the peninsula. Japan resumed normalization talks with North Korea in 2000, after a seven-year hiatus. Japan joined the United Nations on December 8, 1956. Koichi Haraguchi was named Japan’s Ambassador to the UN in July 1997. The following is excerpted from a November 11, 2002, speech by Ambassador Haraguchi during the UN General Assembly debate on the approval of the IAEA’s 2002 report.Japan greatly appreciates the IAEA’s role in fostering and strengthening international cooperation on the peaceful…